The Bank of England gave permission for currency traders to share information about their order books, behaviour that is now the subject of an investigation by the City watchdog and that has already led to several senior foreign exchange dealers leaving their jobs.

According to Bloomberg, a senior trader has informed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that Bank of England officials knew about the controversial practices and did not make any effort to stop them.

The FCA, as well as US regulators, are investigating the foreign exchange market amid allegations that traders at major financial institutions shared information in order to manipulate benchmark currency rates.

Giving evidence to the Treasury select committee this week, Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the FCA, said the allegations about FX market rigging were “every bit as bad as they have been with Libor”.

Senior traders at several banks, including Lloyds Banking Group, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs, have left their posts in recent weeks amid the investigation. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of any individual.